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EU agriculture not viable for the future![]() Leipzig, Germany (SPX) Aug 05, 2019 The current reform proposals of the EU Commission on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are unlikely to improve environmental protection, say researchers led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Gottingen in the journal Science. While the EU has committed to greater sustainability, this is not reflected in the CAP reform proposal. The authors show how the ongoing reform process could still accommo ... read more |
NASA gauges plant stress in Costa Rican droughtPasadena CA (JPL) Aug 09, 2019 NASA's ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) has imaged the stress on Costa Rican vegetation caused by a massive regional drought that led the Central Ameri ... more
Agriculture's secret weapon: empowering womenGeneva (AFP) Aug 6, 2019 Women farmers face the brunt of the threat posed by climate change, yet they may hold the key to helping limit its fallout, according to a landmark UN report to be released this week. ... more
Common bee disease spread through flowersWashington (UPI) Aug 7, 2019 A common honeybee disease can make the jump to wild bees via flowers, according to a new study. ... more
Brazil's agricultural minister defends record pesticide approvalsBrasilia (AFP) Aug 6, 2019 Brazil's agriculture minister on Tuesday defended a record number of pesticide and weedkiller approvals this year, saying the government was not "putting poison on anyone's plate." ... more |
IMF approves $206 mn aid to Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah
Flights cancelled, roads flooded as rare storm soaks UAE Sri Lanka plans $1.6 bn in cyclone recovery spending in 2026 Brazil megacity Sao Paulo struck by fresh water crisis Indonesians reeling from flood devastation plea for global help Levee break near Seattle prompts evacuation order Flash flood kills dozens in Morocco town At least 20 dead in eastern Bolivia floods Press Release from Business Wire: Textron Inc. Flash floods kill 37 in Moroccan coastal town |
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| Previous Issues | Aug 08 | Aug 07 | Aug 06 | Aug 05 | Aug 02 |
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Ecological land grab: food vs fuel vs forestsParis (AFP) Aug 5, 2019 The overlapping crises of climate change, mass species extinction, and an unsustainable global food system are on a collision course towards what might best be called an ecological land grab. ... more
Solar panels cast shade on agriculture in a good wayWashington DC (SPX) Jul 31, 2019 Imagine you are a farmer struggling to keep up with production demands because of the increasingly stressful climate. Or perhaps you are a producer of renewable energy struggling with dramatic heat ... more
China firms stop purchases of US farm produce: state mediaBeijing (AFP) Aug 5, 2019 Chinese firms have stopped buying US farm produce, state media said Tuesday, following US President Donald Trump's vow to put more tariffs on imports from China. ... more
Overturning the truth on conservation tillageWashington DC (SPX) Jul 31, 2019 Just as we blend, cut, and fold ingredients together to follow a recipe, farmers use equipment to stir together soil and crop residue (stalks and roots of previous crops) before planting. This mecha ... more
Buzz kill: mass bee deaths sting Russian beekeepersBobrovka, Russia (AFP) Aug 1, 2019 Anatoly Rubtsov looked despondently at the beehives lining his property. "The farm used to be loud, it sang," he said. Today just a faint buzz is audible but an overpowering rotting stench hung in the air after his bees were likely poisoned by a pesticide. ... more |
![]() Quarter of world's population facing extreme water stress
China says has begun purchase of more US farm goodsBeijing (AFP) Aug 1, 2019 China said Thursday that it had begun purchasing more US farm goods, addressing a key sticking point in efforts to resolve a drawn-out trade war between the two economic giants. ... more |
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To conserve water, Indian farmers fire up air pollutionIthaca NY (SPX) Jul 31, 2019 A measure to conserve groundwater in northwestern India has led to unexpected consequences: added air pollution in an area already beset by haze and smog. A new study reveals how water-use pol ... more
Microbial manufacturing: Genetic engineering breakthrough for urban farmingSingapore (SPX) Jul 26, 2019 Researchers at SMART, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, and National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a technology that greatly accelerates the genetic engineering of microbes that ... more
Water meant for Puerto Rican hurricane victims dumped on farmlandSan Juan (AFP) July 29, 2019 Tens of thousands of water bottles destined for desperate Puerto Ricans after devastating back-to-back hurricanes slammed into the US island territory remain unopened on farmland almost two years later, emergency aid officials confirmed Monday. ... more
Poland needs to save water for non-rainy dayWarsaw (AFP) July 28, 2019 With his two fishing rods planted firmly on the bank of the Vistula river, 85-year-old Tadeusz Norberciak peers at rocks exposed on the dry riverbed, a telling sign of Poland's looming water crisis. ... more
Trump uncorks French wine threat in digital tax retaliationWashington (AFP) July 27, 2019 US President Donald Trump vowed "substantial" retaliation against France on Friday for a tax targeting US tech giants, threatening to slap tariffs on French wine and blasting President Emmanuel Macron's "foolishness." ... more |
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Earth's last magnetic field reversal took far longer than once thought Madison WI (SPX) Aug 08, 2019
Earth's magnetic field seems steady and true - reliable enough to navigate by.
Yet, largely hidden from daily life, the field drifts, waxes and wanes. The magnetic North Pole is currently careening toward Siberia, which recently forced the Global Positioning System that underlies modern navigation to update its software sooner than expected to account for the shift.
And every several ... more |
Evolution of space, 2SOPS prepares for GPS Block III Schriever AFB CO (SPX) Aug 05, 2019
Lockheed Martin presented the 2nd Space Operations Squadron with a GPS Block III model satellite to celebrate the successful on-orbit testing of the new GPS III satellite at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, July 29.
Staff Sgt. Joseph Wood, 2nd SOPS mission chief, said the model is a physical representation of the modernization underway.
"The GPS III provides improved capabilities ... more |
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Climate change could wipe out California's Joshua trees by end of century Los Angeles (AFP) Aug 8, 2019
Joshua trees, an iconic species of the arid southwestern United States, may totally disappear by the end of the century because of climate change, according to a new study.
A team from the University of California at Riverside used data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to assess the impact of warming on the distribution of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) in their namesake ... more |
Protein factors increasing yield of a biofuel precursor in microscopic algae Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Aug 09, 2019
As an alternative to traditional fossil fuels, biofuels represent a more environmentally friendly and sustainable fuel source. Plant or animal fats can be converted to biofuels through a process called transesterification.
In particular, the storage molecule triacylglycerol (TAG), found in microscopic algae, is one of the most promising sources of fat for biofuel production, as microalgae ... more |
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A good first step toward nontoxic solar cells St. Louis MO (SPX) Jul 31, 2019
Solar panel installations are on the rise in the U.S., with more than 2 million new installations in early 2019, the most ever recorded in a first quarter, according to a recent report by Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables.
To meet the ever-increasing demands, low-cost and more efficient alternatives to silicon-based solar cells - currently the most ... more |
Kenya launches Africa's biggest wind farm Lake Turkana, Kenya (AFP) July 19, 2019
Kenya on Friday formally launched Africa's biggest wind power plant, a mammoth project in a gusty stretch of wilderness that already provides nearly a fifth of the country's energy needs.
The $680-million (600 million euro) scheme, a sprawling 365-turbine wind farm on the eastern shores of Lake Turkana, is delivering 310 megawatts of renewable power to the national grid of East Africa's most ... more |
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French journalists arrested at Australia anti-coal protest Sydney (AFP) July 22, 2019
A French television crew filming a protest against a newly approved Indian-owned coal mine was arrested by Australian police Monday and charged with trespassing.
Construction of the Adani project near the Great Barrier Reef has been under fierce debate for almost a decade, with environmentalists warning that fossil fuels damage the climate.
France 2 reporter Hugo Clement and three member ... more |
Hong Kong lawyers march in silence to support democracy protesters Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 7, 2019 Hong Kong lawyers held a silent march in support of anti-government protesters on Wednesday, highlighting the movement's enduring broad appeal despite increasingly ominous warnings from Beijing.
Hundreds of lawyers dressed in black marched under the scorching sun from the city's highest court to the justice secretary's office.
The rally came as daily demonstrations have become increasing ... more |
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Roach-inspired robot nearly as fast as real thing, unsquashable Washington (UPI) Jul 31, 2019
If you see the latest robot from the University of California, Berkeley scurrying across your kitchen floor, don't bother trying to step on it. The novel roach-like robot, described this week in the journal Science Robotics, can't be squashed.
The new robot, developed by engineers at Cal, can run nearly as fast as a cockroach and as is even harder to kill. If one were to stomp on the li ... more |
Paris downplays Notre-Dame lead poisoning fears Paris (AFP) Aug 6, 2019
Paris officials on Tuesday downplayed the risk of lead poisoning from the massive fire that tore through Notre-Dame cathedral in April, as tests continue to show worrying levels of the toxic metal at nearby schools.
"All the tests we've carried out in a radius of 500 metres (yards) around Notre-Dame are negative, meaning there is no danger," deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire told LCI televisio ... more |
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New process discovered to completely degrade flame retardant in the environment Amherst MA (SPX) Aug 09, 2019
A team of environmental scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and China has for the first time used a dynamic, two-step process to completely degrade a common flame-retardant chemical, rendering the persistent global pollutant nontoxic.
This new process breaks down tetrabromobisohenol A (TBBPA) to harmless carbon dioxide and water. The discovery highlights the potential o ... more |
InVADER project to test technology for exploring ocean worlds Mountain View CA (SPX) Aug 09, 2019
Pablo Sobron, a SETI Institute physicist, and Laurie Barge, a NASA JPL research scientist, are the recipients of a NASA Planetary Science and Technology from Analog Research (PSTAR) grant to study underwater hydrothermal systems at Axial Seamount, the largest and most active volcano on the western boundary of the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate.
Their project, known as InVADER (In-situ Vent An ... more |
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July heatwave up to 3C hotter due to climate change Paris (AFP) Aug 2, 2019
The record-shattering heatwave that baked much of northern Europe last month was likely between 1.5 to 3.0 degrees Celsius hotter due to manmade climate change, an international team of scientists said Friday.
The three-day peak saw temperature records tumble in Belgium, the Netherlands and Britain while the city of Paris experienced its hottest day ever with the mercury topping out at 42.6C ... more |
Tencent set to take stake in Universal Music Paris (AFP) Aug 6, 2019
Chinese internet giant Tencent is in early talks to take a stake in the Universal Music Group, a behemoth in the global music industry, UMG's French owner said on Tuesday.
If a deal is confirmed, Shenzhen-based Tencent is to take 10 percent in Universal Music, with an option to pick up another 10 percent.
This would translate into an investment by Tencent of up to six billion euros ($6.7 ... more |
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NASA's MMS finds first interplanetary shock Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 09, 2019
The Magnetospheric Multiscale mission - MMS - has spent the past four years using high-resolution instruments to see what no other spacecraft can. Recently, MMS made the first high-resolution measurements of an interplanetary shock.
These shocks, made of particles and electromagnetic waves, are launched by the Sun. They provide ideal test beds for learning about larger universal phenomena, ... more |
Plant roots began following gravity 350 million years ago Washington (UPI) Aug 2, 2019
To make the transition from sea to land, plant roots had to learn to grow downward, to follow gravity. This ability, gravitropism, helped plants anchor to the soil and retrieve water and nutrients.
New analysis of this vital adaptation suggests the ability first emerged roughly 350 million years ago.
Scientists have studied gravitropism in flowering plants, but until now research ... more |
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